Arlo Q End of Life Policy and Arlo Q

[deryckr]

Hi,

Based on Arlo End of Life Policy - does this impact Arlo Q cameras and my present Arlo plan?

If yes, can I use an Arlo Base Station with these cameras and continue to receive camera notifications as well as access on my phone/tablet any alerts when video and/or sound is triggered?

What Arlo base station would be compatible with my Arlo Q cameras?

[StephenB]

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@deryckr wrote:

Based on Arlo End of Life Policy - does this impact Arlo Q cameras

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Yes.  The Q (VMC3040) and Q Plus (VMC3040S) are both listed here:

• https://kb.arlo.com/000063018/Arlo-Legacy-Cameras-End-of-Life

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@deryckr wrote:

Based on Arlo End of Life Policy - does this impact my present Arlo plan?

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Hard to say without knowing what plan you have.  

If you have no plan (7 day free cloud recording), then that will end on the EOL date (1 January 2024).  Options are to replace the camera(s) or get a subscription plan.  However, there will be no firmware updates after the EOL date, and over time the camera subscription features might become limited.

If you have a old paid subscription plan, then it will be migrated to Arlo Secure in March 2023.

• https://kb.arlo.com/000063016/Arlo-Smart-and-Business-subscription-plan-changes-February-2-2023

If you have Arlo Secure already, then no change. 

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@deryckr wrote:

What Arlo base station would be compatible with my Arlo Q cameras?

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The Q cameras cannot be paired with any Arlo base station.

[KremmenUK]

Given there is no way to link the Q to any offline storage I think it's bad policy to leave us with nothing. Even 24hrs would be useful given the 'promise' on the box.

[deryckr]

Agreed with your comment.

I bought your Arlo Q at the time on the basis I didn't need to enroll for subscription plan to view any triggered video or audio  or receive notification.

At the least I did not mind purchasing a base station rather than enrollment with plan or purchasing new cameras. Since that it not an option I will look at other cameras than Arlo. 

[KremmenUK]

Same here.

In the back of my mind is a couple of new Arlo Indoor Essentials would drop off support in circa 4 years.

Not worth the risk.

[jguerdat]

How would that be possible since EOL is defined as 4 years after end of production? 

[StephenB]

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@jguerdat wrote:

How would that be possible since EOL is defined as 4 years after end of production? 

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I think the gap here is that no one knows when the "end of production" will happen (or when it did happen???).

For instance, has the Pro 3 and Ultra production ended?  (replaced by the Pro 4 and Ultra 2)? If so, when did that happen?

Also, Arlo likely continues to sell cameras as long as they have inventory.  Is "end of production" when they stopped manufacturing, or when they stopped selling new cameras in the Arlo store?  If I purchase a new AVD1001 from Arlo.com, how do I know that production hasn't ended for it already?

Just my own speculation here, but it kind of looks like the EOL policy was tailored to get the answer Arlo wanted (e.g., to justify the EOL of the specific camera models in the announcement).  It's not particularly useful for users who are looking to purchase new cameras, and wanting to get the longest support window for them.  

[User70]

Dear Netgear / Arlo corporate drones,

You cannot and will not advertise products such as Arlo Q as "Free 7 days cloud storage", with no other stipulations or time limits whatsoever, and then summarily proceed to completely shut down that functionality after so and so years. This is not only anti-consumer and morally wrong, it's also illegal.

Your marketing for the Arlo Q did not say "So and so years of free 7 days cloud storage", now did it? It said, and I quote, "Free cloud recording. 7 days of FREE cloud recordings". Notice there's no time limit. No asterisk. No other stipulations whatsoever.

The fact that you're now shutting down cloud storage for many products still being sold to the public is cynical and shameful. If you offered any other means of storing recorded video, be it to a local NAS, a DVR, ONVIF, any other cloud storage provider or even an SD card, it would have been somewhat reasonable, since we would have a way to keep using our cameras.

Instead, you are PRACTICALLY DISABLING our expensive security cameras by shutting down the only way to save any recorded video, which is arguably the most important feature in a security camera.

Mind you, these are the same cameras we paid extra for, compared to cheaper brands, SOLELY because they were advertised by Arlo as having 7 days of free cloud storage.

We actually would have been happy to pay for a cloud storage plan, to continue using the cameras, but that was never an option for us since the plans don't show up at all on the app. This is probably a geo-IP limitation since we don't reside in the US.  At the time, I set up multiple Arlo cams for a US based client and he was able to see the cloud storage plans and buy one without issues.

So there you have it. A customer buys expensive security cameras from Arlo, a supposedly reputable brand, lured in by the promise of free 7 days cloud storage, then tries to buy cloud storage plans only to find out they're blocked from doing so since Arlo doesn't offer them outside the US, which Arlo of course did not mention anywhere in advance. The customer uses the cameras for a few years then Arlo decides to completely and utterly disable them by shutting down the only way to record any videos.

If this is the way Arlo treats their customers, we'll never buy any Netgear or Arlo product again.

We have relatives in the states that work for a law firm specializing in cherry picked consumer class action lawsuits.  I've spoken with them at length about this issue and also sent them a link to Louis Rossmann's YouTube video on the matter.

They are adamant that since Netgear did not specify any time limit on the advertised 7 days free cloud storage, it's illegal for them to shut it down without allowing existing customers any recourse, any other means of using their cameras as intended. 

Any Arlo Q or other fake "EOL" Arlo product user that feels they've been for all intents and purposes cheated by Arlo's shady ways of conducting business, pulling this bait and switch on their customers, please feel free to send me your contact information and I'll forward it to the law office so you'd be included in the class action lawsuit when it comes to fruition. 

I've seen some egregious abuse of customers by corporations before, but this one takes it to a whole new level. If Arlo does not care to listen to their customers on this forum or via support channels and address their perfectly valid requests to find some way to keep using the cameras they bought, they'll face them in a court of law. This is where we draw the line.